A charity treasurer has been jailed after stealing approximately £200,000 from the agricultural charity whose finances she managed.
Geraldine Coates appeared at Exeter Crown Court on 10 August, having previously been found guilty at trial of fraud and was jailed for three years and nine months, with confiscation proceedings to follow.
In court, Coates was described as “an outwardly respectable woman, entrusted by a local charity to look after their finances”, but “who succumbed to temptation and took advantage of her position by defrauding them”.
Coates had been the director of her own accounting business and was treasurer of the Honiton and District Agricultural Association (HDAA) between 1996 and 2018.
She subsequently siphoned off the money from the charity over a nine-year period, from 2009 to 2018.
Fraud first uncovered in 2018
Coates falsified transactions and signatures on HDAA cheques to ensure large sums of money were transferred to her own account, according to Devon and Cornwall Police.
The fraud was uncovered in 2018 when financial checks were carried out following a dispute between Coates and HDAA over a missing payment to a supplier.
These events triggered further financial checks at HDAA, resulting in more suspicious transactions being found and Coates handing in her resignation in November 2018.
Irregularities included more cheques with unidentified second signatures and missing invoices. It was also found that Coates had fabricated bank statements.
HDAA notified the Charity Commission and reported the matter to police resulting in the start of the investigation.
An expert witness report ultimately determined that transactions amounting to between £200,000 and £205,000 appeared to be fraudulent.
Further investigation revealed that Coates spent some of the proceeds of her fraud on home improvements, a holiday and covering the costs of running her business.
HDAA reported an annual income of just over £333,000 in its most recently filed accounts for the year ending 31 October 2024.
Coates ‘defrauded charity out of vital funds’
Detective constable Alan Findlay, said: “Due to the length of time Coates had been in the role and the good relationship she had with committee members, she had full trust to manage the charity’s finances and accounts in its best interests.
“HDAA promotes agricultural and educational causes and Coates defrauded the charity out of vital funds that could have been used to benefit others, spending the money on her own needs and wants.
“Coates took active steps to try and cover her offending and at no point did she have the courage to admit what she did – even taking the matter to trial despite the strong financial evidence against her.”
HDAA has been approached for comment.
